What Happened

I still think it comes down to advertising and engagement.

You can sell anything in this town with buzz. The sad thing is we thought we had buzz with a good product due to 3 years of incredible football but it was almost like everyone was neutral until the championship game which had a good crowd. It’s because we didn’t sell the good product.

Hang stuff around town. Get the brand in your face to the point you can’t unsee it. I don’t want to see purple as much as I see red in this city. Put it everywhere. Schedules. Signs. Banners (don’t talk about a banner.)

Advertising college football seems easy. Look at what other schools do. You have a 300 plus school sample size counting FCS. What works? What doesn’t? You don’t even have to be innovative. Just be plugged in to your community.

It’s a sin what the administration did and didn’t do with the recent success. But, they can recover.

Hang a banner for the first home game. Advertise the hell out of it. That’s a start.

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Originally Posted by RaginScotsman

I still think it comes down to advertising and engagement.

You can sell anything in this town with buzz. The sad thing is we thought we had buzz with a good product due to 3 years of incredible football but it was almost like everyone was neutral until the championship game which had a good crowd. It’s because we didn’t sell the good product.

Hang stuff around town. Get the brand in your face to the point you can’t unsee it. I don’t want to see purple as much as I see red in this city. Put it everywhere. Schedules. Signs. Banners (don’t talk about a banner.)

Advertising college football seems easy. Look at what other schools do. You have a 300 plus school sample size counting FCS. What works? What doesn’t? You don’t even have to be innovative. Just be plugged in to your community.

It’s a sin what the administration did and didn’t do with the recent success. But, they can recover.

Hang a banner for the first home game. Advertise the hell out of it. That’s a start.

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It's too late for that cfb ages in dogs years .2021 might as well be 2015 in most cfb fans minds.

They did nothing all offseason thinking hiring local and living off the back of 13 wins would be enough. Then all wondered why only 7k people showed up to the last weekend game.

JMO Hud came in with the rah rah rah and having experiance from an SEC program brought us to our first modern day bowl game and got a huge emotional win, Napier was hired from a big-time program and hired a heck of a staff he was also supported by Slick Saban, CMD brings none of this, local product can't even be found in public. No head coaching experience or ties to a big-name program. How do you get excited when the coach isn't excited about his program in public.

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Originally Posted by Cajun Soldier

JMO Hud came in with the rah rah rah and having experiance from an SEC program brought us to our first modern day bowl game and got a huge emotional win, Napier was hired from a big-time program and hired a heck of a staff he was also supported by Slick Saban, CMD brings none of this, local product can't even be found in public. No head coaching experience or ties to a big-name program. How do you get excited when the coach isn't excited about his program in public.

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Marketing. A coach can be the face of a program w/o the need to “press the flesh” constantly. But we cannot even market dirt.

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Originally Posted by cajun_lannister

It's too late for that cfb ages in dogs years .2021 might as well be 2015 in most cfb fans minds.

They did nothing all offseason thinking hiring local and living off the back of 13 wins would be enough. Then all wondered why only 7k people showed up to the last weekend game.

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Totally right.

My wife and I have been laughing at this for the past few years and it kind of applies to UL football.

You’ve got a restaurant that gets built up and delivers in Lafayette for a couple years, but somehow folds.

Then you’ve got garbage restaurants that get built up all the time and thrive. It’s because they are in your face all the time, they make it a place to be and that makes people continue to show up.

It’s easy to fool people with a bad product. Why is it so hard with a good product?

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Originally Posted by Big Buds

It’s all pretty simple. The CERN Large Hadron Collider was recently activated setting Earth and all of mankind through a portal into a parallel universe. We are currently living in some type of post Covid, Twilight Zone, simulation that has our fan base stuck in 2002. Hopefully they reengage CERN setting us all back into our normal universe.

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The NPC'S have taken over

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Originally Posted by Cajun Soldier

JMO Hud came in with the rah rah rah and having experiance from an SEC program brought us to our first modern day bowl game and got a huge emotional win, Napier was hired from a big-time program and hired a heck of a staff he was also supported by Slick Saban, CMD brings none of this, local product can't even be found in public. No head coaching experience or ties to a big-name program. How do you get excited when the coach isn't excited about his program in public.

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You finna get drug

What happened?

Failure to commit by the powers that be. Success builds on success. 2011, the first bowl game for this program in the modern era. "Paint the Quarter Red" That Ragin Cajuns football team showed many of us what it was like to win at another level. People showed up, spent money, and were treated to an emotional win. That season and the bowl win should have been a catalyst for commitment by UL leadership. The administration could have taken that success and built on it by making Ragin Cajun football games into the premier community event. Instead, we continue to struggle with game day operations, have a near invisible RCAF, and a lackluster marketing plan. The message the community gets from our administration is enjoy the glimmers of success and we'll maintain the status quo.

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Originally Posted by RaginCajun77

What happened?

Failure to commit by the powers that be. Success builds on success. 2011, the first bowl game for this program in the modern era. "Paint the Quarter Red" That Ragin Cajuns football team showed many of us what it was like to win at another level. People showed up, spent money, and were treated to an emotional win. That season and the bowl win should have been a catalyst for commitment by UL leadership. The administration could have taken that success and built on it by making Ragin Cajun football games into the premier community event. Instead, we continue to struggle with game day operations, have a near invisible RCAF, and a lackluster marketing plan. The message the community gets from our administration is enjoy the glimmers of success and we'll maintain the status quo.

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Well said. 10 years later....it feels and looks the same.

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Originally Posted by Geaux

Well said. 10 years later....it feels and looks the same.

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…..Hey guys, thanks for some thoughtful posts on our situation……can we get these compiled and brought to the folks that make it happen? The Ice Gators comparison was a real thought provoker……the same same same even with success doesn’t cut it…..but, I think the cost, ease of getting to the venue, and atmosphere pregame are okay (Cajun walk, stage band, baseball stadium activity and refreshments……agree? Please keep some SOLUTIONS TO SITUATIONS POSTS!

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Originally Posted by CajunJeaux

And our 1 P5 game wasn’t competitive.

Acadiana & rest of LA aren’t impressed with beating Nichols by 3 points.

Sorry.

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How Louisiana got there is known by you, and a few, that's it.

Going in to 2022 a massive 13-1 sales pitch would have doubled season ticket sales.

Something tells me the administration had very low expectations going into this past season. So much so, they didn't try to sell it.

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Originally Posted by Boomer

…..Hey guys, thanks for some thoughtful posts on our situation……can we get these compiled and brought to the folks that make it happen? The Ice Gators comparison was a real thought provoker……the same same same even with success doesn’t cut it…..but, I think the cost, ease of getting to the venue, and atmosphere pregame are okay (Cajun walk, stage band, baseball stadium activity and refreshments……agree? Please keep some SOLUTIONS TO SITUATIONS POSTS!

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This idea may seem minor, "irrelevant" or even counterproductive to some, but I feel Robichaux's Ticket Redemption game idea should be implemented for Louisiana's final home football game.